Finding out the blood-sucking truth

Yesterday was Halloween … and it was a warm one! One source said it was the warmest in 80 years. That set up a trick-or-treat unlike any other in memory. Kids actually had the chance to wear their costumes without covering them up with parkas and raincoats. It was a night when ghouls and goblins, along with Taylor Swifts and Travis Kelces, got to show their true colors. But it was also a night when real monsters got pretty comfortable, too! And with the new moon keeping things nice and dark, many monsters were up to no good. This is the story of one of those monsters. Pipen always thought her name was, you know, a little too cute. She would have preferred something more, let's say, seasonal, like Elvira … or Agatha. But, to tell the truth, those names were a bit old-fashioned and, if you heard her tell it, she was kinda cute. But cute or not, Pipen was not a bit like her mother. Mom was the epitome of the family tradition. Mom was a, well, more on that later. For now, suffice it to say that Pipen's idea of a good time was hanging out with her besties at the bar. There they sucked down libations, nectar was her favorite, and would get totally buzzed. When she would come home, Pipen's mother would incessantly remind her that she needed to be true to who she was. Now, Pipen's mother went out every night, too, but she didn't hang out at the nectar bar. No, she was interested in something a little more substantial … something full-bodied … something that was not only satisfying, but necessary for survival. And not just for individual survival, but for the survival of the species. Mom was out for blood! Mom was out for blood, because that's what vampires do, they suck blood. And as cute as Pipen was, she, too, was a vampire. She just didn't want to admit it yet. Like others of her kind, Pipen avoided sunlight. Hers was a world of shadows … of darkness. Only after the sun went down would she fly. Yes, Pipen could fly. However, contrary to popular belief, vampires can't magically change into flying creatures like a bat whenever they feel like it. They actually grow into it. Moreover, young vampires can't even walk. Strangely, they can swim, but they can't walk. But despite who she was and what her mother thought she should do, Pipen was quite satisfied with her life and her friends and sipping nectar at the bar. But over a short time, her friends stopped coming to the bar. With little warning, Pipen found herself alone ... sipping and wondering. And then it happened. She caught a whiff in the air. It wasn't a smell exactly. It was more like a sensation. It troubled her, but it was too enticing. She flew off to follow it. It led to a human. Pipen had never seen a human before, but there was something that drew her closer and closer. She hovered a few feet away and noticed that the human was oblivious to her presence. She noticed the human's exposed neck. She didn't know why, but she couldn't resist. She went in. She landed on his neck, bit down hard and got her first taste of blood. The speed of the human's hand surprised her. With only a millisecond to spare, she flew off. Confused. Excited. Worried. And strangely hungry for blood. She went in again. This time the human didn't react. She sucked hard and long. "This blood's good!" she thought. And a few nights later, she had her second drink of blood and after that, she couldn't stop! Her mother was so proud of her! Pipen wasn't an actual vampire. She was something a bit more real and a heck of a lot more dangerous. Pipen was a house mosquito ( Culex pipiens). (Please note the ultra-clever corruption of the species name into Pipens!) And, unlike the fictional vampire, mosquitos are responsible for some 1,000,000 deaths worldwide each year. It's not that their bite kills victims, but while biting pathogens acquired from their last victim can enter the current one. As a disease carrying vector, this simple scenario makes the mosquito the deadliest animal on Earth! What is true about Pipen's story is that house mosquitos do sip on flower nectar. It is the mainstay of their diet. Sugary nectar gives them energy to fly and breed. But to successfully breed, female mosquitos need blood. They can get blood from a whole host of animals, including humans. A few days after filling up on blood, the female lays eggs on water. Historically, this water would be the surface of a pond or vernal pool, but today it could be a poorly maintained gutter, an unattended bucket or even a sewer. Water with the fewest predators allows the most mosquitos to reach adulthood. Mosquitos, and it can be spelled mosquitos or mosquitoes, are aquatic for the first part of their lives. Thus, like our story, they cannot walk. Fact is, they can't swim too well either. Both the larval and pupal forms need to breathe air, so they stay close to the surface and use a "breathing tube." If conditions are just right, a mosquito egg can turn into a blood-sucking adult in just over a week. Females are the only ones that seek blood. Male mosquitos just sip nectar and hope to mate. House mosquitos like to avoid sunlight, so they do hang in the shadows, and become most active after the sun goes down. And the smell -- that mostly likely was carbon dioxide, a gas that naturally emanates from humans. Late October is not a likely time to encounter mosquitos, but with the warm weather we have had this fall, mosquitos are still around. Typically, the adults die off, and the aquatic stages last through the winter by employing a hibernation-like shutdown called diapause. In this way, we will have the joy of sharing warm summer nights in the company of mosquitos. And, if it is warm long enough, they will add a bit of fright to trick-or-treat.